Vaomu’s safety concerns

Despite missing his family because he’s always away from them for work until the weekend, the 40-year-old loves his job because it keeps his mind busy.

Vaomu works for a man at an isolated area far away from the inner village.

“There are two of us who work here,” he said. “We basically spend every day and night here; we clean the land and look after it and then on the weekends, we get to go home and see our families.”

He has five children who are attending school at the village.

“We have electricity and a water tank so it’s a comfortable home to be staying in away from home but I think our only fear is how unsafe our country has become especially with the many prisoners escaping from Tafa’igata.

“We’re in a land that’s basically far away from every place and from any other person so it’s really scary to think about the fact that we don’t have any nearby place or a police station to run to for help when something bad happens.”

“We don’t even have a vehicle of our own for emergencies.”

“We’ve been here for five years and maybe the government should set up another Police station around this area because I know there are other people along this area who are doing the same work as us.”

“I know escaped prisoners usually aim for the most uninhabited areas and that includes this area as well.”

“Mind you, the only police station for everyone here is the one at Lalomanu and I think by the time the police get here when an accident or incident happens, the damage has already been done.”

“I mean the safety of the people is one of the government’s responsibilities so these are the little things they should think about and do something about it.”